CMC Electronics to Produce L-3 SmartDeck

By Tish Drake | October 19, 2010

Esterline CMC Electronics on Monday said it has an exclusive license agreement to produce the L-3 Avionics Systems SmartDeck integrated cockpit avionics system.

Greg Yeldon, CMC Electronics president, announced the agreement at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) conference in Atlanta. L-3 first unveiled SmartDeck at NBAA 2007 in Atlanta. The system was certified by FAA on the Cirrus SR22 single-engine turboprop in May 2008.

“We have acquired from L-3 the right to develop, sell, manufacture and exploit exclusively the technologies related to this SmartDeck integrated flight deck,” Yeldon told an NBAA press briefing.
Yeldon said the licensing agreement benefits CMC Electronics by reducing its development risk and accelerating the time-to-market for solutions related to SmartDeck technology. CMC plans to build on the L-3 platform “using our experience in Part 23 and Part 25 cockpit certification to grow SmartDeck into various adaptable solutions for all types of aircraft,” the company stated.

The technologies CMC is licensing include synthetic vision and digital map, complementing CMC’s product lines such as PilotView electronic flight bag and SureSight enhanced vision system. The L-3 technologies “were uniquely synergistic to what we are planning and had in our product roadmaps,” Yeldon said.

Yeldon was asked why SmartDeck was acquired by licensing agreement rather than an outright acquisition. “In terms of the structure, that was an L-3 decision,” he said. “For CMC, it really makes no difference whether it’s a new product or licensing technology, the outcome is the same for me.”